The Ocean's Curse
by anonymousperson1332
Summary: Nami gets a strange disease called "The Ocean's Curse". The Strawhats must begin a search across the ocean for the cure, all while Nami's condition worsens (ZoroxNami and others)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Ocean's Curse**

It was a stormy night in the Grand Line. Nami tried to sleep, but the harsh rocking of the ship and thunder kept her up. Anyways, for the past few nights, she had nightmares about Bellemere, so sleeping wouldn't have been much better. She pulled a raincoat over her pajamas and stepped outside onto the slippery deck. She glanced up to the crow's nest, where she was sure Zoro was training. Besides her and the swordsman, no one was awake.

Nami pulled the hood of her coat over her long, orange hair and walked down to the side of the deck. She observed the waves and the sky, determining that the storm wasn't bad enough to have to change course. The navigator suddenly felt dizzy and gripped onto the side of the deck to stop herself from falling. "Must just be tired," She thought as she regained her balance. She glanced down at the ocean again and felt a strong, sudden urge to jump off the ship. Nami worriedly stumbled away from the side of the ship and turned away from the water, feeling scared for some reason.

The navigator couldn't explain why she felt the urge to jump, she knew it wasn't normal to feel that way. She pressed a hand against her forehead and flinched because of how hot it felt. She decided to talk to Chopper in the morning. She tried to walk back towards her room, but it felt like someone was holding her back. Nami felt herself shaking and then walking back to the edge against her will.

Zoro watched Nami from the crow's nest. He tried to ignore his feelings for the navigator, but it was getting harder every day. He thought of it as a curse sometimes, knowing that his feelings probably weren't returned. No matter how hard he tried to train and only focus on his swords, the feelings wouldn't go away.

At first, it just looked like Nami was talking a walk, but Zoro noticed something was wrong when she started slowly walking towards the edge of the deck after stumbling back seconds before. Zoro quickly jumped down from the crow's nest and approached Nami.

"Nami, what's wrong?" Zoro asked as he stood next to the orange-haired girl. Nami didn't respond and continued walking, causing Zoro to become a bit worried. "Oi, Nami," he continued, grabbing the girl's arm. Nami gasped and turned around. Zoro noticed she was shaking and had tears in her eyes.

"The water…" She mumbled before fainting. Zoro caught her before she fell to the ground. Zoro became scared and called for Chopper, who was on the deck in a few moments.

Nami slowly opened her eyes, staring up the ceiling of the Thousand Sunny's infirmary. She groaned and turned to the side, seeing Brook sitting in a chair and turned away from her, apparently studying some picture on the wall. "Brook?" Nami said tiredly. The skeleton jumped in shock before turning around to face Nami. He stared at her for a moment before calling for Chopper.

Moments later, Chopper burst into the infirmary with Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji close behind. They all smiled and called the rest of the crew into the room.

"Nami, we were worried!" Luffy yelled as he jumped onto the bed. "Zoro told us what happened last night and we thought you died or something!" Luffy continued, seeming as happy as ever.

"Shut up, rubber boy! I never doubted Nami-swan!" Sanji yelled angrily as he kicked Luffy off the bed. "There's no way the wonderful Nami would die! Also, marimo over here was freaking out the most." At that comment, Zoro turned away awkwardly. Nami was about to ask Zoro was exactly happened, but the rest of the crew ran into the room.

"Wait, everyone back away from the bed!" Chopper yelled, but was ignored. He turned into his heavy point and pushing everyone a step back. "I don't know how sick Nami still is, and I don't want you guys hurting her!"

Nami sighed, and although she would normally be annoyed by the loud boys, she found them welcoming after the night before. Everyone in the room seemed to be happy except for Chopper and Robin, who exchanged worried glances every once in a while.

"I think it's best that everyone leaves the room. Chopper and I would like to talk to Navigator-san alone," Robin said after everyone quieted down a bit. Despite Luffy's and Sanji's protests, everyone except for Nami, Robin, and Chopper was forced out of the room.

Nami looked at the two worriedly. "What's going on? I just have a cold, right?" Nami asked nervously. Robin gave Chopper a curious glance, and Chopper shook his head sadly.

Chopper sighed and turned to Nami. "Well, the problem is I can't figure out what's wrong with you. Zoro said you fainted last night after walking towards the water and that you were acting really weird," The doctor explained. "And I thought it was just a minor sickness, but you didn't have a fever and everything else seemed fine. But Robin says she knows what's wrong and that it's really serious."

Nami's eyes widened and she turned to Robin, who started back at her with sad look in her eyes. "Yes, the sickness I believe you have is very serious and very rare. It's commonly called the Ocean's Curse," The dark-haired woman explained. "I thought it was just a legend, but all of the symptoms seem like what you have. The first stage of the sickness involves dizziness, occasional fevers, nightmares, fainting, and sometimes hallucinations. This is what you've been experiencing, correct?"

Nami nodded slowly. She didn't question how Robin knew about her nightmares and dizziness, but Robin always noticed small details when others didn't. "Yeah, but that's the same for a lot of sicknesses, right?" Nami asked.

Chopper nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought, but then we saw the mark that represents the 'Ocean's Curse'," Chopper said. After seeing Nami's confused look, he approached her and lifted up her shirt, revealing a blue, spiral-shaped mark directly above her waist.

"I didn't have that mark yesterday," Nami said, looking helplessly at Chopper and Robin.

"That's why I'm worried, Navigator-san," Robin said calmly. "That mark is said to appear approximately one week before the second stage begins. During the second stage, the previous symptoms get much more severe."

"Also, new symptoms start to appear," Chopper added. "For example, you become much weaker and easier to injure. It also becomes more difficult to breathe and walk."

"So what should I do?" Nami asked. Robin picked up a map that was laying on the desk nearby.

"It should be about two days until we reach this island, correct?" Robin asked as she pointed to a medium-sized island to the northwest. Nami nodded. "Good, we will be able to get some medicine there, according to Chopper. Until then, the only places you can go are the infirmary and the kitchen since being outside can speed up the time between stages." Robin smiled at Nami before walking out of the infirmary.

"Nami, do you want me to stay in here with you?" Chopper asked nervously.

"No, I'll be fine, but thanks," Nami responded and giving the small doctor a smile. "You can go get some rest, you've probably been working hard, right?"

Chopper smiled back. "Alright, I'm going to take a nap, but I'll be back later! Sanji said he'll stay in the kitchen as much as possible too, so if you need help, he'll be there," Chopper explained before walked towards the door. "I promise I'll get the medicine at the island!" Chopper added before walking out of the room.

Nami sighed tiredly and laid back down on the infirmary bed. She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep, trying to push the worries she had out of her mind.

Zoro outside of the kitchen, sitting on the ground next to the kitchen door. Robin and Chopper walked outside, talking quietly. Zoro jumped up and tapped Robin on the shoulder. "Is she gonna be okay?" He asked, trying not to sound concerned.

Robin gave him a comforting smile. "Yes, if we can make it to the next island soon. I'll take over as the navigator for now," The archaeologist said as she held up Nami's log pose. "Don't worry, I'm sure Chopper can handle this," She added, causing Chopper to blush. Zoro gave them a forced smile before walking away towards the crow's nest.

"Robin, why didn't you tell Zoro how bad it is?" Chopper asked quietly as the two walked away from the kitchen.

"Oh, well, I know how Swordsman-san feels about Navigator-san."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, let's just focus on getting to the next island."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Journey to the Healing Island**

Nami boredly sat in a chair at the dining table very late at night. She watched the light rain run down the window in the kitchen while drinking a cup of coffee. She had slept for a while, but was awoken by another nightmare about Bellemere's death. After that, she ate dinner with the rest of the crew and then helped Sanji clean up. Sanji left for bed a few minutes ago, leaving Nami alone in the kitchen. Chopper insisted that he or Robin stay with her during the night, but Nami convinced him she was fine. Now, Nami was starting to regret not having someone stay with her.

Nami stretched and realized she still wore the same clothes she did when she fainted on the deck. "I'll have to ask Robin to bring me some new clothes tomorrow," Nami thought as she took another sip of her coffee. She felt a bit dizzy for a second, but ignored it and closed her eyes. Chopper told her that she would still feel the symptoms, but they would die down for a few hours before the next stage started. She stood up and walked to the window, looking outside at the deck. The lights were on in the crow's nest, where Zoro was training again.

Nami walked into the infirmary after finishing her coffee and wrapped herself in the blankets on the bed, trying to get comfortable so she could (hopefully) fall asleep. As soon as she felt her eyelids get heavy, a knock came on the infirmary door.

"Can I come in?" The deep voice of Zoro grumbled. Nami mumbled a (somewhat surprised) "yes" back and watched Zoro walk in the dark room. The swordsman sat in a chair near the bed. Nami didn't mind him being there, especially since she wanted someone to talk to and vent her thoughts. "Robin says you're fine, but you don't look so good," He said, glancing over Nami's face and noticing the shadows under her eyes.

"Yeah, I know," Nami mumbled sleepily. "What else did you hear about it?" The navigator asked after an awkward pause.

"Nothing really, Robin just said you'd be fine after we get medicine on the next island. They're hiding something, aren't they?" Zoro asked. Nami nodded in agreement.

"It's called 'The Ocean's Curse'. You ever heard of it?"

Zoro's eye widened. "Uh, yeah, one of the guys I worked with before I joined Luffy had it." Zoro's face paled at the thought. "Don't mean to freak you out or anything, but it gets pretty bad."

"I got the general idea from those two," Nami said, talking about Robin and Chopper. Zoro and Nami stopped talking and just sat in silence for a while.

"So…" Zoro started. Nami noticed him nervously glancing around the room barely lit by moonlight. "You're not allowed to leave this room? Must be pretty boring," Zoro commented as he yawned.

"Yeah, there's not much to do here during the night."

"I feel bad for you, honestly." Nami could have sworn she saw Zoro blush, but she ignored it.

"Oh, thanks for feeling bad for me, Zoro," Nami teased. Zoro scowled at her before standing up. "Where are you going?" Nami asked, thinking she sounded disappointed.

"Gonna train a little bit before bed."

"Don't you sleep enough during the day, lazy?"

"Shut up."

"Alright, good night, Zoro," Nami said before Zoro walked outside. She smiled to herself and wrapped herself tighter in the blankets before falling asleep. Outside, Zoro inhaled the cool night air and began walked up the ladder to the crow's nest. He promised himself he would help Nami get better, because he didn't want to see another person he knew die of the Ocean's Curse.

The next morning, breakfast went on as usual. Everyone seemed their normal, happy selves. Nami was glad no one was panicking about her condition. The only people who seemed any different were Robin and Zoro. Robin was a bit quieter than usual, but it was hardly noticeable and Zoro would just glance over at her every few minutes.

"He's just being nervous because he's seen it before," Nami told herself. "Anyways, he'd do the same for Luffy, Chopper, Robin, or anyone else." For some reason, she felt weird about Zoro talking to her last night, but she figured she had bigger things to worry about. She had her first hallucination this morning when she thought she saw Nojiko standing at the foot of her bed. She disappeared once Chopper walked in to check on her, but Nami was still pretty freaked out.

"We should reach the island by noon tomorrow," Robin explained. "The island is known as Hiriame and it has a large forest, rumored to be full of herbs, luckily for us." This caused a few cheers to come from Luffy, Usopp, Franky, Chopper, and Brook.

"Sanji, let's have a feast for Nami's recovery!" Luffy shouted excitedly, smiling at Nami.

"No, idiot, I'm saving all the extra food for Nami if she gets hungry," Sanji growled back, lightly kicking Luffy.

After breakfast, Robin stayed to help Sanji clean up while Luffy and Zoro continued talking at the table. Nami sat on the couch on one side of the room, boredly watching everyone else. Chopper was in the infirmary, insisting that he stayed with Nami today since she had a hallucination, and was currently reading a book about pirate's diseases. Usopp, Franky, and Brook were somewhere outside, probably working on navigating to the next island. Nami was surprised that they managed to stay on course for this long without her help, but she knew Robin was decent at navigation.

Nami couldn't help her thoughts from drifting back to Zoro and the conversation they had last night. She did think it was a little weird that Zoro talked with her during his free time, but she tried to ignore it as much as possible.

"Navigator-san, you seem worried about something," Robin said, sitting down next to Nami. Nami looked over at Robin, who gave her a comforting look. "Chopper and I have read through books on the island and determined the materials we need to make the medicine are there."

"Thanks, Robin," Nami said gratefully. "By the way, would you grab some new clothes and books for me?" Robin nodded.

"Of course, I'll be back soon." Robin left the kitchen and Nami headed back towards the infirmary, not noticing Zoro watch her leave.

Later in the evening, Nami changed into a plain t-shirt and shorts. She also looked at the books Robin brought her. There were two about navigation, a fantasy story about a princess (one of Nami's favorites), and a love story between a mermaid and a prince. For almost the entire evening, Nami read through the books, since she didn't have anything better to do. She felt a little disappointed that Zoro didn't visit her though. That night, Chopper slept in the infirmary with Nami.

Nami fell asleep quickly, having not slept much for the past few nights. That night, instead of having a nightmare about Bellemere, she had a nightmare about Zoro being killed in front of her, and she woke up crying several times.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Hiriame**

Nami woke up early the next morning and found that Chopper as well as Robin were sitting in the infirmary. Both were awake and studying a book on Chopper's desk. It had been three days since she fainted on the deck. Nami weakly sat up and flinched at the pain on her stomach. She looked down and noticed the area around her mark had become swollen.

"Ah, Nami, you're awake!" Chopper said happily as he hopped onto her bed. "If the mark on your stomach hurts, don't worry, it's normal." Nami smiled, knowing the doctor was doing his best to help her.

"Miss Navigator, we spotted the island and should reach it in about one hour, so get prepared to go on land," Robin explained. "Once we get on land, we'll immediately split into three groups. Usopp, Franky, and Brook will stay to watch the ship; Luffy and Sanji will collect food and other information in town; and you, Chopper, Zoro, and I will try to find the antidote."

Nami's heart skipped a beat when she learned Zoro would be in her group, although she didn't know why. "Alright, thanks Robin, and you too, Chopper," She said, smiling at the two before she began getting ready to leave.

After a while, the Strawhat Pirates finally reached Hiriame Island. As soon as they got the Thousand Sunny into a safe location, Nami's group got off the ship and headed towards a large, stone, castle-like building in the middle of a small town, where Robin claimed the leader of the town lived. Nami rode on top of Chopper in his walk point, since her legs were getting weaker every day, with Zoro and Robin on either side of her.

Nami hated how she had to depend on the others this much, but she knew they didn't mind. As the four walked towards the building, they got a few weird glances from other people, probably due to Nami's worsening appearance. Over the past two days, Nami noticed she lost a lot of weight, despite eating normal meals. She had also become more pale, but she thought her skin got a light blue color sometimes. She just brushed it off as being paranoid, though.

When they finally reached the building, a woman in a nurse's uniform stood outside. Before any of them could say a word, the nurse's eyes fell on Nami and her eyes widened. She then ran inside the building, yelling loudly for someone.

"What was that all about?" Zoro growled, placing a hand on his swords defensively. Before he could pull it out, Robin sprouted a hand on Zoro's arm and held him back.

"Just wait," The archaeologist said calmly. Nami and Chopper shared uneasy glances. Sure enough, a few seconds later, an old man (also in a doctor's uniform) walked outside the building. She stared at Nami for a few seconds, studying her face curiously. Nami noticed that Zoro looked very annoyed at the old man. After a few minutes, the man grumbled something and waved them inside the building. After looking at each other for a minute, the four cautiously followed him inside.

After walking through the painted stone doors, the small group found themselves in a huge hallway that was about four stories tall and wide enough for a large group of people to walk side by side. Stained glass decorated the ceiling and higher section of the walls. Gray and white marble pillars held up the room and wooden doors were between each pillar, on the walls. A long red and gold carpet spanned the entire hallway and a stone platform was at the end, in front of a large painting of a woman.

They continued following the man almost the entire length of the hallway, but he suddenly turned and went in a wooden door to the left. Inside was a medium sized office. There was a wooden desk and several chairs in the center of the room with a fireplace on the opposite wall and multiple plants along the other walls. The old man sat in the biggest chair at the desk and motioned for them to sit.

"Your...pet...must wait outside, I don't like animals in my office," The man grumbled, pointing at Chopper. Chopper looked disappointed for a second, but walked outside into the hallway in the end. Robin, Nami, and Zoro sat down in three chairs on the other side of the desk. "So, orange-haired girl, you have 'Ocean's Curse', don't you?" The man asked, staring at Nami.

Nami glanced at Robin, who just nodded reassuringly. "Yes, do you know how to cure it?" Nami asked hopefully. She thought she heard Zoro growl something like "He better" under his breath.

"Yes, thankfully for you, this town is full of skilled doctors, and you're in a hospital right now," The man said. The three pirates all smiled. "However, we're currently out of the medicine needed for it." The pirates's smiles turned into frowns.

"Why? I thought that disease was rare," Zoro questioned. "Shouldn't you have plenty of medicine? If not, go get some."

The old man pinched the bridge of his nose. "It is rare, but not on this island. The waters around Hiriame are cursed with the sickness. Every ship that passes through here has at least one person on it that gets the disease. With all these young kids wanting to become pirates these days, we have at least one patient a week from 'The Ocean's Curse'. Because of that, we've run out of supplies to make the antidote."

"You just use plants to make the medicine, right? Just go in that forest and collect some more, they grow back," Zoro argued back, glaring at the old man.

"Listen, smart guy, if you want the medicine so badly, then go and collect herbs yourself. But, if you let me talk for one minute, you would learn that we've collected every last plant in that forest. The antidote is rare for a reason, you know."

"Shut up!" Zoro shouted back. He jumped up from his chair and grabbed the man by the front of his shirt. The old man didn't seem fazed, even though many people were intimidated by the ex-pirate hunter.

"Zoro, stop!" Nami yelled back. She had to strain her voice just to shout somewhat loudly. "It's fine, there's nothing he can do if there's no more materials to make the antidote!"

Zoro turned and glared at Nami. Although it was less intense than how he looked at the man, it still scared Nami. "Don't you get it, Nami? You're gonna die if we don't get this medicine!"

"I know, but he can't do anything!" Nami shakily stood up, face to face with Zoro.

"Fine! If you want to die so badly, then I'll go!" With that, Zoro let go of the man and roughly pushed him back. "Have fun dying here!" Zoro yelled over his shoulder as he stormed outside of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

Nami felt tears forming in her eyes as she watched Zoro leave. She quickly wiped them away before sitting back down. "Sorry," she mumbled, staring at the carpeted floor.

"Is there anything we can do to get the medicine?" Robin asked, her expression as neutral as ever.

The man sat down in his chair again, adjusting his shirt. "As I said before, we've collected every resource needed for it. As far as I know, there's nothing left there. You can search, and I'll gladly make the medicine if you can find enough resources."

"We'd like that, if you don't mind," Robin responded. The man grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down the name of several herbs and other materials. "Thank you very much," Robin said as she took the paper and glanced over it. Both girls stood up and began to exit the room, Robin helping Nami stand up.

Nami turned around. "Sorry, we never got your name," She said. The old man looked a bit surprised.

"My name? Just call me Doctor Archer, please," he responded. Robin then somewhat pulled Nami out of the room.

"What's wrong, Robin?" Nami asked, seeing a look of distrust on the other girl's face.

"Nothing, I just don't know what to think of 'Doctor Archer'," Robin responded quietly. She quickly looked over her shoulder, and her face paled a bit. "Where's Chopper?"

Nami's eyes widened. "He was supposed to wait out here, right?" She asked nervously. "Wait, maybe he went with Zoro."

"Perhaps… I hope so," Robin muttered to herself. "Let's go back to the Sunny for now, we can ask one of the boys to come with us to look for the materials." She looked over the list again quickly before walking back towards the front of the hospital, with Nami right next to her. Both girls worried about Zoro and Chopper.

Chopper waited outside the man's office. He was annoyed at being called a pet and being forced to wait outside, but he supposed there was nothing he could do about it. He wanted to switch back to his normal form, but it would definitely cause suspicion among the nurses walking back and forth down the hallway.

"So, more pirates, huh?" A blonde-haired nurse grumbled annoyedly, stopping near the door to the office with another brown-haired nurse. Chopper's ears perked up, the nurses getting his attention.

"Yeah, it's annoying, right? They come here and steal all our resources, then they curse our island," The other nurse responded. "Hey, speak of the devil, there's their stupid pet." Chopper froze nervously.

"So what? It's a deer, he can't understand us and he can't fight. He's probably just in the crew because he's cute or something." Both girls laughed. Chopper got more annoyed, but had to pretend he couldn't understand them.

"Even if he's an animal, he could still bring the curse."

"You know, the curse isn't just caused by pirates. It's also caused by us throwing the bodies in the water and-" The nurse was cut off by shouting coming from inside the room. The two girls continued walking, saying something about "noisy pirates". Chopper was interested about what they said about bodies.

A minute later, Zoro stormed angrily out of the room and slamming the door shut behind him. "Zoro!" Chopper exclaimed, being intimidated by the swordsman's bad mood. "Those nurses were saying something scary!"

Zoro gave Chopper a confused look before walking towards the front of the building. "Let's go, Chopper," He said annoyedly.

"Wait, Zoro!" Chopper yelled, chasing after the green-haired man. "They're throwing bodies in the water, they're evil doctors!" Zoro froze and turned around.

"What?" Zoro asked.

"I listened to some nurses and they said they throw bodies in the water."

Zoro was completely dumbfounded. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but we've gotta get some plants before Nami dies. They're out of the medicine here, so let's go."

Chopper glanced over his shoulder uneasily. "I'm gonna stay here, is that okay?"

"Whatever, do what you want," Zoro grumbled over his shoulder before storming outside of the hospital and slamming the large doors behind him.

Chopper sighed before turning back towards the long hallway. He regretted not going with Zoro, knowing he would get lost, but something deeply bothered him about this building. He glanced around for a while before deciding to enter a random door, walking deeper into the castle-like building.

"Hey, Sanji, they're looking at us weird," Luffy said, lazily dragging the bags Sanji gave him to hold behind him. He noticed a few people glaring at them, others giving them sympathetic glances before turning away and hurrying into the small, wood and stone buildings that decorated the empty street.

Sanji was too busy staring at a group of women to notice what Luffy was saying. The rubber boy only got his attention by grabbing his arm. "What?" The cook asked.

"The people-" Luffy was cut off by a man approaching him. Both boys looked at the man curiously.

"Excuse me, but are you pirates?" The man asked in a kind tone. Luffy and Sanji nodded, causing the man to sigh. "I'm sorry, but I must ask that you leave this island as soon as possible."

"Huh? Why's that?" Sanji asked suspiciously. He looked over at Luffy, who also seemed annoyed.

The man looked over his shoulder, seeing a few people staring at him, shock and fear in their eyes. The man sighed, grabbing Sanji's arm and dragging him towards a shady-looking wooden shack at the end of the road, at the edge of the forest.

"What are you doing?" Sanji shouted, his voice a mix between confusion and annoyance. He pulled his arm back, and standing defensively in the middle of the dirt road. He scowled, his brown eyes narrowing at the strange man. Luffy came up and stood next to Sanji, looking back and forth between the man and his friend.

"Listen, come inside, I gotta tell you something," The man explained. He nervously looked around him, seeing a few villagers giving him weird glances. "It's... not something I can really say in front of people."

Sanji looked over at his captain, expecting him to give an answer. Luffy was studying the man curiously. A moment later, Luffy grinned. "Sure, let's go, Sanji!" He said, turning towards the cook. Sanji sighed and followed the man and Luffy, who continued towards the small house.

Once inside, the man ran over to his fireplace and put some strange-looking herbs inside the iron pot above the burning fire. Outside, a light rain fell over the small and calm town. A few drops of water fell in through the gaps in the poorly-made ceiling into the small hut.

Luffy and Sanji awkwardly waited while the man stirred around a few more ingredients in the pot. Eventually, the man started talking again. "Sorry if I confused you. It's just that… this town has a thing against pirates." The man turned his attention away from the strange soup he was cooking. "My name's Carlos, by the way." He dragged a wooden chair with a broken leg and an old armchair in front of the fireplace and motioned for the pirates to sit.

"Yeah, nice to meet you! I'm Luffy and this is Sanji," Luffy responded enthusiastically, pointing at his blonde-haired crewmate. Luffy didn't seem even slightly uncomfortable, and happily took a seat in the soft armchair, relaxing in front of the softly glowing fire. He left his bags of groceries near the door.

Sanji, on the other hand, was far more uncomfortable. He thought Carlos was suspicious, his house seemed half-destroyed, and he was pretty sure he saw a spider run across the floor near Luffy's foot. "So, what did you need to tell us again?"

"Right," Carlos said, his tone becoming more serious. "Everyone in this town is being fooled! They think the curse is brought on by pirates!" He shouted. Sanji jumped at the sudden change of mood.

"A curse?" Luffy asked, his relaxed mood not changed by Carlos' seriousness.

"Yes! The Ocean's Curse! They think the pirates bring the curse with them, but it's really those things they do at that cursed hospital!" Carlos got a crazed look in his eyes. Sanji flinched back as Carlos grabbed the front of his suit jacket. Luffy became interested upon hearing 'Ocean's Curse'. "You have to stop them, they're throwing the bodies in the ocean, it's making all those poor people sick!"

"Slow down!" Sanji shouted, shoving Carlos off of him. "What are you even talking about?" Carlos seemed to calm down a little bit, taking deep breaths. Luffy and Sanji stared at him, waiting for an explanation.

"Sorry, it's just…" Carlos froze, his eyes widening and a trickle of blood coming out of his mouth. Luffy jumped up from the chair and caught Carlos as he fell to the ground. Sanji looked up, noticing a bullet hole in the weak, wooden wall, directly behind where Carlos was standing.

"Luffy, what just happened?" Sanji asked. Luffy ignored him and ran outside into the pouring rain. Sanji approached Carlos cautiously. The dying man looked up at Sanji, and forced out a few words.

"Watch out for Archer…" Carlos managed to say before dying in front of Sanji, who was stunned. Sanji stood silently, pondering the man's words.

"Who's Archer?" Sanji thought as he took a few steps backwards, towards the door. He opened the door and stepped outside, not really caring about the death of a man he only met a few minutes earlier. However, his death still made him feel uneasy. "Who cares, he was probably insane or something."

"Sanji!" Luffy shouted. He ran back towards his friend, carrying a gun. He stopped in front of Sanji, holding out the mud-coated weapon.

"What's this?" Sanji asked, carefully taking the gun out of Luffy's hands and studying it.

"It's a gun, obviously. But it's what shot that guy."

Sanji flipped the gun around, rubbing off some mud to see if there was anything. His eyes widened when he saw a red cross on one side. The symbol of the hospital.

Usopp sat on the deck of the Sunny. He was left on the ship with Franky and Brook, who were both working on different things. Since Usopp didn't have anything to do, he decided to fish. However, the sniper was having no luck today.

Finally, Usopp felt something catch on his fishing rod. "Finally!" he exclaimed happily, jumping up and pulling on the rod. He couldn't get the fish up, however, since it was so heavy.

"Heavy…" Usopp groaned, pulling harder on the rod. He was scared it was going to break, but still tugged on it one last time with all of his strength. This time, the fish was flung into the air and over Usopp's head. The force caused Usopp to slip off the wet wood and fall back onto the deck with a loud thud.

Franky came up from under the deck, in his workshop. "What's goin' on?" He asked, having heard the thud. Usopp sat up in the grass covering the deck and quickly turned around to see what kind of huge fish he caught. To his surprise, it wasn't a fish at all, and was a large, black bag.

"What'd you find, long nose?" Franky asked again, walking over to stand next to the sniper. "Huh? Why does that thing have a skull on it?" He continued, pointing at the white skull that was hastily painted onto the bag.

"Dunno," Usopp responded. "Maybe Brook's playing a joke," He chuckled nervously. Usopp wouldn't admit it, but he was scared. However, that wasn't an uncommon thing for him.

"Nah, I don't think so. Brook's been in the aquarium, practicing his music all day. I can hear him in my factory." Franky sighed, knowing that Usopp was probably scared. "I'll open it, but it's probably nothing."

Franky approached the bag and looked for an opening. He flipped it over and saw a zipper that was rusted from being underwater. He pulled it open, and jumped back when he saw what was inside. Usopp nervously watched Franky's reaction. "Alright, we need to get Robin or Chopper or someone," The cyborg said after a few moments of silence.

"Why? What happened?" Usopp asked, watching Franky jump up and walk around the deck, not sure of what to do. Franky didn't respond, so Usopp slowly approached the bag himself. Inside, he first noticed a few rocks scattered around. Then, he noticed the rotting skeleton.


End file.
